MDC to help host Eagle Days at Smithville Lake

Free event Jan. 9 & 10 will include wildlife exhibits and live raptor shows

Kansas City, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and partners will host the 21st annual Eagle Days at Smithville Lake on Jan. 9 and 10. The right combination of weather that’s cold, but not too cold, can concentrate waterfowl and eagles at the lake north of Smithville and Kansas City. Regardless of weather, the indoor conservation exhibits and live raptor shows are always popular. All programs are free and all ages welcome.

   Conservation displays, crafts for children, and a program with live predatory birds will be available indoors at the Paradise Pointe Golf Course Clubhouse, 18212 Golf Course Drive, Smithville, Mo. Operation Wildlife will showcase live raptors. Other exhibits including wild birds rehabilitated from injuries by the Lakeside Nature Center will be on display.

   A wild eagle viewing station will be set up, with spotting scopes and guides, at the Highway W boat ramp. The ramp is near a waterfowl refuge and a prime eagle viewing area. If weather conditions move eagles and waterfowl to other locales, information on a change in viewing station location will be available at the event.

   Eagle Days event hours are 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 9, and 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 10. Operation Wildlife will present four shows on Saturday and three on Sunday. For more information about Eagle Days and live bird show times, call the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at 816-532-0174.

   Eagle Days at Smithville Lake is a partnership between MDC, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Clay County Parks and Recreation Department, and other public and private conservation partners.

   Also in MDC’s Kansas City Region, an Eagle Days event will be held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. onSaturday, Feb. 6, at the Schell City Community Center and at MDC’s Schell-Osage Conservation Area. The area is in Vernon County northeast of Nevada, Mo. Raptor programs and conservation displays will be at the community center. Guided eagle viewing will be offered at the lakes at the nearby conservation area. For information, call MDC’s El Dorado Springs office, 417-876-5226.

   For information about these and other Eagle Days events throughout Missouri, and for eagle viewing sites throughout winter, visit mdc.mo.gov/events/eagledays.

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Start the New Year with First Day Hikes in Missouri State Parks on Jan. 1

Free, guided hikes in nearly 30 state parks and historic sites throughout the state will be held on Jan. 1. The effort is a part of America’s State Parks First Day Hikes, which gives visitors the opportunity to start the year off right with an outdoor hike.

“At state parks throughout the state, we are offering First Day Hikes to allow our guests to begin 2016 with a healthy hike,” said Bill Bryan, director of Missouri State Parks. “It’s a fun and relaxing way to spend New Year’s Day while also getting a head start on a year of adventures in the outdoors.”

Guided hikes being hosted in state parks range from a half mile to four miles and are taking place on a wide variety of trails in every region of the state. A list of state parks with guided hikes on Jan. 1 is available atmostateparks.com/page/59235/first-day-hikes.

Nationally on Jan. 1, 2015, more than 41,000 people participated in guided hikes that covered over 79,000 miles on 997 hikes. Details on every state’s hikes are located at naspd.org. Participants are encouraged to log their adventures on social media with #FirstDayHikes.

Missouri State Parks guests were among the more than 25,000 Missourians who have completed more than 4.5 million miles as a part of the Governor’s 100 Missouri Miles Challenge. In 2015, Gov. Jay Nixon and First Lady Georganne Nixon kicked off the third year of the challenge, which celebrates Missouri’s award winning trails and encourages Missourians to enjoy the outdoors. The fourth year of the challenge begins in 2016.

For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

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• Missouri clears the path for a companion to the Katy Trail (stltoday.com)

Master Naturalist training planned for Joplin

Attendance at Jan. 4 orientation is required for participation in upcoming course.

JOPLIN, Mo. – Protecting Missouri’s natural resources is an ongoing and challenging task. The challenge is made easier when private citizen groups – as well as state agencies – can provide education, outreach information and services. That’s the idea behind Missouri’s Master Naturalist Program.

The Chert Glades Master Naturalist Chapter will hold Master Naturalist training Jan. 25 through April 18 at the Walter Woods Conservation Area in Newton County just south of Joplin. The course doesn’t start until Jan. 25, but interested people must attend an orientation that will be held 6:30 p.m. on Jan 4 at the Walter Woods Area.

After attending this orientation, participants must register by Jan. 10 for the course. The Missouri Master Naturalist program mixes science with service. Master Naturalists engage Missourians in the stewardship of our state’s natural resources through science-based education and volunteer community service. The Master Naturalist program is a partnership between the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the University of Missouri Extension.

“The intent of the Master Naturalist Program is to better connect people to the environment and nature,” said MDC Volunteer and Interpretive Program Coordinator Syd Hime. “There are a lot of people with an interest in nature who are looking for opportunities to develop their skills as a naturalist and use those skills in volunteer service. We provide that through a community-based natural resource volunteer and education program.”

To become a Master Naturalist, individuals must receive training and contribute volunteer services. Once individuals receive Master Naturalist certification, they will be required to give 40 hours of service and complete eight hours of additional advanced annually training to maintain their certification. Individuals must be age 18 or older to participate.

For more information, call MDC Conservation Education Consultant Jeff Cantrell at 417-629-3423 or e-mail jeff.cantrell@mdc.mo.gov Details about the Master Naturalist Program can also be found at www.chertglades.org or http://extension.missouri.edu/masternaturalist.

MDC holds new Eagle Day event in Kansas City area

Missouri River boat rides and captive eagle shows highlight event

Kansas City, Mo. – A Missouri River boat ride to see an eagle nest, an occasional wild eagle and flocks of gulls on sand bars were highlights on Dec. 12 at the Missouri River Eagle Day. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) hosted the event at LaBenite Park in Sugar Creek, a Kansas City suburb. Visitors also got a close-up look at a bald eagle and a golden eagle displayed by staff from the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield. Conservation and nature displays were available throughout the park, and the Sugar Creek Police Department served lunch.

   About 250 visitors attended the event. MDC and conservation partners host various Eagle Days events throughout the state during winter. Migrating bald eagles often congregate in large numbers near lakes and rivers. This was an inaugural event connecting people with nature on the Missouri River in winter. Only a few wild eagles were in the area during the event, as the weather did not cooperate to bring large numbers of eagles to the river. But all participants in the boat ride got a close look at an active eagle nest in a large tree on the river bank just downstream of Kansas City.

  

 “People had a blast out on the river,” said Steve Jacobsen, assistant manager for MDC’s Anita B. Gorman Discovery Center. “They just don’t get a chance to do that very often.”

   The next raptor and waterfowl watching event in the Kansas City metro area will be the 21st annual Smithville Lake Eagle Days on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 9 and 10. An outdoor eagle and waterfowl viewing station will be set up at the lake. Conservation displays, kids crafts, and a program with live predatory birds will be available indoors at the Paradise Pointe Golf Course Clubhouse, 18212 Golf Course Drive, Smithville. The event is 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 9 and 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 10. For information, call the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at 816-532-0174.

   Also in MDC’s Kansas City Region, an Eagle Days event will be held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. onSaturday, Feb. 6, at the Schell City Community Center and at MDC’s Schell-Osage Conservation Area. The event will include raptor programs and guided eagle viewed at the conservation area. For information call 417-876-5226.

   For information about these and other Eagle Days events throughout Missouri, and for eagle viewing sites throughout winter, visit mdc.mo.gov/events/eagledays.

MDC sets turkey and deer hunting dates and regulation changes

Missouri offers some of the best deer hunting in the country, and deer hunting is an important part of many Missourians' lives and family traditions.

Changes include deer-season structure and allowed methods.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – At its meeting on Dec. 11, the Missouri Conservation Commission approved recommendations by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) for the 2016-2017 deer-hunting season and the 2016 turkey-hunting seasons. The recommendations include turkey-hunting and deer-hunting season dates, changes to turkey-hunting allowed methods, and changes to the deer-hunting season structure and allowed methods.

SPRING TURKEY HUNTING DATES

• Spring Youth Portion: April 9 and 10, 2016
• Spring Turkey Season: April 18 through May 8, 2016

FALL DEER AND TURKEY HUNTING DATES

• Archery Deer and Turkey: Sept. 15 through Nov. 11, 2016, and Nov. 23, 2016, through Jan. 15, 2017
• Firearms Turkey: Oct. 1 through 31, 2016
• Firearms Deer Early Youth Portion: Oct. 29 through 30, 2016
• Firearms Deer November Portion: Nov. 12 through 22, 2016
• Firearms Deer Antlerless Portion: Dec. 2 through 4, 2016
• Firearms Deer Alternative Methods Portion: Dec. 24, 2016, through Jan. 3, 2017
• Firearms Deer Late Youth Portion: Nov. 25 through 27, 2016

DEER AND TURKEY HUNTING REGULATION CHANGES

The Commission approved the following regulations regarding deer and turkey hunting:

• Expand the deer-hunting late youth portion to three (3) days beginning the firstFriday after Thanksgiving.
• Reduce the length of the deer-hunting antlerless portion from 12 to three (3) days and begin it on the first Friday in December.
• Eliminate the urban-zones portion of the firearms deer season.
• Allow crossbows as a legal method during archery deer and turkey seasons.
• Allow the use of crossbows during the fall firearms turkey season.
• Remove the hunting method exemption requirement related to crossbows.
• Reduce the limit of antlered deer from three (3) to two (2) during the combined archery and firearms deer hunting season, with no more than one (1) antlered deer taken during the firearms deer hunting season.
• Set the 2016 spring turkey season from April 18 through May 8 with a limit of two (2) bearded turkeys during the season; provided only one (1) turkey may be taken during the first seven (7) days of the season.
• Set the 2016 youth spring season April 9 and 10.
• Set the 2016 fall turkey hunting season from Oct. 1 through 31 with a limit of two (2) turkeys of either sex during the season.

The regulation changes will become effective March 2016.

The Commission initially approved the deer-hunting recommendations at its August 2015 public meeting followed by a public-comment period.

Changes to the deer-hunting season structure and methods come after Department efforts over the past 18 months to gather public input. That public input included hunter and landowner surveys, numerous public open houses around the state, community presentations, media communications, information in various MDC publications, discussions with conservation partner organizations, and other efforts.

The Department will also continue to gather public input through surveys and the MDC website in early 2016 on a variety of deer-hunting-related topics, including nonresident permits and prices.

The approved recommendations were also based on the Department’s use of deer population simulations, biological data, and harvest information.

"The goal of the Conservation Department's deer management program is to use research-based wildlife management combined with public input to maintain deer population levels throughout the state that provide quality recreational opportunities while minimizing human-deer conflicts," said MDC Deer Biologist Jason Sumners. "As deer populations in Missouri have changed over the last 75 years, so have our management strategies. In modifying the hunting-season structure, our aim is to achieve a deer population that is biologically and socially acceptable while also promoting hunter participation, recruitment, and retention."

DEER HUNTING IN MISSOURI

Missouri offers some of the best deer hunting in the country, and deer hunting is an important part of many Missourians' lives and family traditions. Deer hunting is also an important economic driver in Missouri and gives a $1 billion annual boost to the state and local economies.

According to MDC, more than 90 percent of land in Missouri is publically owned so landowners are essential to creating and maintaining wildlife habitat on private land. The Department works with more than 25,000 landowners in Missouri to help them manage their land for wildlife, such as deer and turkey.

For more information on deer and turkey hunting, visit mdc.mo.gov and click on Hunting/Trapping on the MDC homepage.

Related articles

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Experts share wildlife habitat tips at month-long seminar

Topics at the month-long seminar will include elk, black bear, quail and turkey updates, and habitat management. (MDC file photo)

Topics include elk, black bear, quail and turkey updates, and habitat management.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) announces a free month-long Wildlife Seminar open to the public. MDC biologists will host a session every Tuesday evening in January from 6 to 7:45 p.m. at Mineral Area College.

Topics will range from how to improve wildlife habitat on private property to updates on Missouri elk, black bear, quail and turkey populations, native landscaping and song bird identification.

“We’ll address habitat tips for all types of properties from large farms to a small yard,” said Julie Norris, an MDC private land conservationist.

Each session will be in the Arts and Science Building Rice Lecture Hall B. Although there’s no cost to attend the sessions, space is limited, so registration is required. Individuals can register for any number of sessions. Those wanting to register for all four sessions must register before Jan. 1. Individual session registrations will be taken up until the Friday before each session.

Weekly sessions are:

       Week 1: Jan. 5

• White-tailed Deer Movements and Reproduction in Managed Forests
• The Story of Elk in Missouri

      Week 2: Jan. 12      

• The Bear Facts in Missouri State
• MO Wild Turkey research project

      Week 3: Jan. 19   

• Small Game Management
• Natural Community Management

      Week 4: Jan. 26      

• Landscaping with Natives
• All About Song Birds

For more information on the seminar, contact Norris at (573)225-5859. To register, call(573)290-5730. For more information on how the MDC works with private landowners to promote wildlife habitat, go online to mdc.mo.gov.

Related articles

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Conservation Commission Action – DECEMBER 2015

The Missouri Conservation Commission met Thursday, Dec. 10, for its closed session and Friday, Dec. 11, for its regular open meeting at Conservation Department Headquarters, 2901 West Truman Boulevard, in Jefferson City. Commissioners present were:

• Marilynn J. Bradford, Chair
• David W. Murphy, Vice Chair
• James T. Blair, IV, Secretary
• Don C. Bedell, Member

PRESENTATIONS:

The Commission received the following presentations/reports:

• Agricultural Crop Program -- Nathan Bess, Financial Services Analyst; and Dave Darrow, Wildlife Management Biologist
• Missouri Deer Survey Program -- Mike Hubbard, Resource Science Division Chief
• Report of the Regulations Committee -- Tom Draper, Deputy Director and Chairman, Regulations Committee
• Recommendations for 2016-2017 Fall Deer/Turkey Season Structure, Methods, and Limits -- Jason Sumners, Resource Scientist
• 2016 Missouri Wild Turkey Hunting Regulation Recommendations -- Jason Isabelle, Resource Scientist
• Upcoming waterfowl/hunter public engagement meetings – Mike Hubbard, Resource Science Division Chief
• Major Construction Projects Status Report -- Jacob Careaga, Design and Development Division Chief
• 2016 Permit System Vendor Changes -- Greg Jones, Permit Services Supervisor
• Information Technology Projects Status Report -- Douglas Fees, Information Technology Services Chief

ADMINISTRATION:

The Commission:

Received public comments regarding proposed deer regulations from Cole Cruickshank of Cameron and Blake Hurst of Westboro.

Recognized Conservation Agents Brian Ham, Doug Yeager, Adam Bracken, and Matthew Bryant (2015 MDC Pistol Team) for awards received at the National Police Shooting Championships.

Recognized two conservation-agent work teams as recipients of the 2015 MDC Workforce Diversity Award. Team members are: Conservation Agents Chris Campbell, Tammy Pierson, Marsha Jones, Chris Decoske, Brian Bartlett, Adam Doerhoff, Becky Robertson, Kearby Bridges, Christa Cox, Alan Lamb, and Jerry Elliott; and Conservation Agents Lexis Riter, and Kevin Powell.

Recognized the 2015 Missouri 4-H Shooting Sports State Team for Top Overall Honors at the 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships. Representatives of the 36-member team in attendance were: Dalton Fisher, Nichole Gann, Seiler Johnson, Stewart McCollum, Cole Sandbothe, Leanna Schwartze, Jake Tanner, Levi Walker, and Hunter Weller.

Recognized Stewart McCollum as the Top Overall Individual in the Senior Division at the 2015 NRA International Youth Hunter Education Challenge.

Approved recommendations for 2016-2017 fall deer/turkey season structure, methods, and limits:

• Archery Deer and Turkey: Sept. 15 through Nov. 11, 2016, and Nov. 23, 2016, through Jan. 15, 2017
• Firearms Turkey: Oct. 1 through 31, 2016
• Firearms Deer Early Youth Portion: Oct. 29 through 30, 2016
• Firearms Deer November Portion: Nov. 12 through 22, 2016
• Firearms Deer Antlerless Portion: Dec. 2 through 4, 2016
• Firearms Deer Alternative Methods Portion: Dec. 24, 2016, through Jan. 3, 2017
• Firearms Deer Late Youth Portion: Nov. 25 through 27, 2016
• Maintain the current 11-day November portion of the firearm deer season instead of the proposed 9-day season.
• Expand the late youth portion to 3 days beginning the first Friday after Thanksgiving.
• Reduce the length of the antlerless portion from 12 to 3 days and begin on the first Friday in December.
• Eliminate the urban zones portion.
• Include crossbows as a legal method during the archery deer and turkey seasons.
• Allow the use of crossbows during the fall firearms turkey season.
• Reduce the bag limit for antlered deer from 3 to 2 during the combined archery and firearms deer hunting seasons, with no more than 1 antlered deer taken during the firearms deer hunting season and only 1 antlered deer taken prior to the November portion of the firearms deer hunting season.
• Remove the hunting method exemption requirement related to crossbows.

Approved recommendations for changes to the Wildlife Code of Missouri to limit the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease.

Approved 2016 Missouri wild turkey hunting season regulation recommendations.

• Established the 2016 spring turkey season from April 18 through May 8 with a limit of 2 bearded turkeys during the season; provided only 1 turkey may be taken during the first 7 days of the season.
• Established 2016 youth spring season April 9 and 10.
• Established the 2016 fall turkey hunting season from Oct. 1 through 31 with a limit of 2 turkeys of either sex during the season.

Approved regulation changes identified during the mid-year review of the Wildlife Code of Missouri.

Approved entering into a contract for acquiring LiDAR and aerial photogrammetry of 34 conservation areas. 

Approved an amendment to the negotiated agreement for design of the new Grand River Pump Station at Fountain Grove Conservation Area in Livingston County.

Approved an increase to the permit vendor commission rate effective upon implementation of the new electronic permit system.

Approved the exchange of approximately 16 acres of Angeline Conservation Area in Shannon County for approximately 9 acres in Shannon County as an addition to Angeline Conservation Area.

Approved the purchase of approximately 14.69 acres in Jefferson County as an addition to Myron and Sonya Glassberg Family Conservation Area.

Approved the 2014-2015 annual report for the Department of Conservation.

Denied the request for reinstatement of hunting privileges from one individual.

Approved the suspension or revocation of one or more hunting, fishing, or trapping privileges of two individuals for cause:

• Lucas C. Hughes, Louisberg, Hunting, Additional 2 Years; and
• Tyler M. Summers, Warsaw, Fishing, 1 year.

Suspended or revoked all hunting and fishing privileges of 400 individuals who are not in compliance with applicable child support laws.

Suspended or revoked one or more hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges of 374 individuals in accordance with the terms of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact.

Suspended or revoked hunting privileges of six individuals who inflicted injury to another person while hunting.

Set the next regular meeting for January 21-22, 2016.

This document is provided for public information only and is not an official record of the Missouri Department of Conservation or Missouri Conservation Commission.